POMONA >> On the final day of the 91st annual L.A. County Fair at Fairplex on Sunday, new mom Nicole Kerr enjoyed a serving of Dr Bob’s Heath candy bar-flavored ice cream.

The Marina Del Rey resident, who gave birth to her son, Liam, only 2½ weeks ago, was not going to let that stop her from coming out to the Fair this year.

“I used to go when I was much younger, but then we moved away,” Kerr said, referring to her husband, Wesley, and 2-year-old daughter, Vivian. “This is our first year back, and I told him, ‘We are going to the Fair.’”

As Liam, wrapped in a baby carrier, rested on her chest, the family cooled off from the heat by eating some ice cream. They were joined by Kerr’s parents, Kevin and Sandy Browne of Studio City.

“This is our first time,” Sandy Browne said about the ice cream stand. “It’s kind of scary now that we know it’s here.

For the most part, Vivian sat quietly in her stroller eating her strawberry ice cream as the adults enjoyed their own servings.

“That was one of the things we negotiated with her, that she could have ice cream at the Fair,” Sandy Browne said.

As the family shared memories about previous visits, such as going to the horse races or visiting one of the more than 600 vendors, Wesley Kerr talked about what it was like coming to the Fair for the first time.

“It’s much bigger than the fairs that we are used to in Kansas,” he said. “It’s ridiculous how big it is.”

At the 487-acre Fairplex grounds were 72 rides, 211 vendors to serve up feasts, as well as 15 food trucks and more than 400 food and beverage items.

Not too far from Dr Bob’s Handcrafted ice cream stand was Jada Beamon of Ontario along with her son, Jairdon, 7, and daughter Aniah, 5.

The trio were at the Fairview Farms, feeding the goats, calves and sheep.

Beamon said this was the first time her children had come to the Fair, adding she wanted to wait until they got older so they could remember the experience.

“When I was a child, I used to come, and I wanted them to experience it, and I wanted to experience it with them,” Beamon said.

Visiting the animals was the main thing on their to-do list Sunday, but Beamon admits she also came because of the food.

“I’ll probably get them some fried cheese or something,” she said.

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For Aniah and Jairdon, feeding the animals was quite an adventure.

“It feels like wet goats,” Aniah said. “They licked me in the face.”

“They just ate it quickly,” Jairdon chimed in. “It was weird. It was gone in two minutes.”

Cynthia Leija of Pomona, who visited the Fair at least a half-dozen times this year, said she couldn’t miss the last day.

“We look forward to it every year, to the lineup schedule and what new things (there are),” she said. “You can’t do it one day. You have to come multiple times to see one end to another end.”

About the Author

Liset covers the cities of Upland, Claremont, Rancho Cucamonga as well as LA/Ontario International Airport. Reach the author at liset.marquez@langnews.com
or follow Liset on Twitter: @JournaLiset.